Taco Bell burglar faces more charges

Baldwin City police have arrested a 20-year-old drifter in connection with three recent burglaries, including the Taco Bell and Sonic.

In addition to those burglaries, the man -- who does not have a permanent address -- is accused of a residential burglary where two rifles were stolen Aug. 19. Police Chief Mike McKenna said the cases were intertwined.

"We made an arrest on an individual on Sonic and Taco Bell," McKenna said of those burglaries which occurred earlier in August. "We recovered one of the guns from the residential burglary.

"All of these thefts connect together," he said. "We'll be talking to the district attorney about charges in this (residential) case."

The man is in Douglas County Jail on bond.

"We've charged him on the Sonic and Taco Bell, but not this one," said McKenna.

Two other people were also arrested in the Taco Bell and Sonic cases, but the third burglary is tied only to the 20-year-old.

The thieves broke the drive through window out at Taco Bell on Aug. 4 and took an undisclosed amount of cash. They gained access to the Sonic a week earlier, but McKenna has not revealed how or the amount of cash taken. He did say officers found the Sonic cash drawer in a nearby farm pond.

He said the man has been in Baldwin for awhile, but didn't stay in one place too long.

"He used to live in Lawrence and just sort of floated around, sleeping wherever he could get into at night," said McKenna. "We have people in this town who don't have a permanent address.

But, he stopped short of calling them homeless.

"It depends on how you define homeless," he said. "We have one individual who sleeps in the park some nights. These people don't pay rent. They get to know people and stay with them several nights.

"But, as far as if they have an address or are from other places, that would be incorrect," said McKenna. "In that respect, they are homeless. These aren't that, really. They are younger people."

The other two people arrested in the Taco Bell and Sonic burglaries are a 19-year-old Baldwin man and a 19-year-old woman who also doesn't have an address.